Tabitha Tullis
TraumaOne saves girl who fell 15 feet
Presidents Day 2009 was so beautiful that Elizabeth Tullis decided to open the windows and do some spring cleaning.
Shortly after she started her chores, Tullis received a call from her daughter's school saying her 3 year old was running a fever. She checked her daughter Tabitha out of school and brought her home.
Once home, Tabitha went upstairs to grab her blanket to watch a movie with her parents.
While upstairs, Tabitha went to her bedroom window to talk to her sisters playing outside. As she leaned against the screen, it fell out of the window and Tabitha plummeted 15 feet onto the driveway.
"I didn't think anything of the window being slightly open," said Tullis. "It was only open a few inches."
Tullis told her husband that she heard someone crying but he thought it was one of the neighborhood kids.
"Our neighbor happened to be outside at that time and he was the first to call 911," Tullis said.
Tabitha was immediately rushed via ambulance from their Clay County home to the TraumaOne trauma center at Shands Jacksonville.
A glimpse of hope
During the ride to the hospital, Tullis recalled sitting on the floor talking to Tabitha, hoping to keep her alert. Tabitha started vomiting and staring into her mother's eyes but she didn't say a word.
"She didn't respond at first but after repeating myself several times, she squeezed my hand," Tullis said. "Then I knew everything would be OK, even if it was going to be a long road ahead of us."
From the outside Tabitha looked fine – no sign of physical injury – but her mother worried about internal injuries.
When they arrived at Shands Jacksonville, Tabitha was immediately stabilized and underwent several tests and CT scans.
Around-the-clock care
Tabitha was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit for close observation.
"She sustained a skull fracture and intracranial bleeding," said Joseph Tepas, MD, University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville professor and chief of pediatric surgery.
He said window falls are very common in the toddler age range and can sometimes be fatal. He added that what a child hits on the way down, how they land and the material upon which they land all play a role in the severity of her injuries.
"Falls of this nature may cause abnormal functioning such as sleepiness, seizures and vomiting." Tepas said. After receiving around-the-clock care for five days, Tabitha was discharged.
Kindergarten bound
Tabitha's brain is still healing from the fall and she continues to have regularly scheduled checkups with her neurosurgeon every three months, the pediatrician once a month, and her eye doctor is every six months.
The Tullis family said they are grateful for the care their daughter received while at Shands Jacksonville.
"Tabitha received amazing care while in the PICU," Tullis said. "We loved the pet therapy, art therapy, clowns and all the special love she got while there."
Today, the blue-eyed four year old is still adventurous and starts kindergarten in the fall. She spends much of her time outside on her Power Wheels jeep and playing with her older sisters.
"An average person would never know she took a 15-foot fall a little over a year ago," Tullis said. "Thank goodness our faith, friends, family and the awesome and caring staff at Shands got us through that difficult time."
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